1. Field
Bluetooth (BT) is a wireless communication standard used by hundreds of companies in a wide range of products. While mobile phones are the predominant user of Bluetooth, other Bluetooth product categories include desktop computing, wireless hi-fidelity audio, wireless printers, automotive telematics, digital cameras and medical devices.
The Bluetooth standard defines numerous usage models (profiles) to ensure application interoperability between products from different manufacturers. Bluetooth also defines network management protocols that enable devices to discover each other, query each other for information regarding supported services and applications and negotiate connection and security parameters. The software needed to implement these Bluetooth features is necessarily complex and requires a significant investment in software development. Makers of cell phones and many other devices are currently spending millions of dollars developing applications that leverage these standards.
2. Description of Related Art
Many devices that include Bluetooth also support other wireless technologies including 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, WiMAX and Ultra Wide Band (UWB) radios. These wireless technologies frequently offer significantly greater bandwidth than Bluetooth, for example 802.11g operates at up to 54 Mbit/second versus 3 Mbit per second for Bluetooth version 2.0 with EDR, and emerging standards for UWB promise bandwidth capacities of 450 Mbit/second or greater.
Most of these other wireless technologies do not provide the detailed specifications and standards for interoperability and network management provided by Bluetooth. If applications written for Bluetooth can leverage the capabilities of other wireless technologies, device manufacturers can preserve the value of their investment in Bluetooth and bring more capable products to market sooner.